


Rest and relaxation

by Celstese



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, Mayonnaise, Time Loop, Time Travel, Vortex Manipulator, Walk Into A Bar, sabretooth tigers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28280133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celstese/pseuds/Celstese
Summary: While Gwen has a day off from work she meets Tosh's future self.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4
Collections: Torchwood Fan Fests: 2020 Holiday Exchange





	Rest and relaxation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sholio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/gifts).



It was a Friday when I finally had some time to myself. I had some great plans including going to this nice curry place and eating what I couldn't while I was at home since Rhys was allergic. My day didn't go as planned after I managed to get that one thing out of the way. As I was walking to my car, out of nowhere I got pulled into an alleyway. I almost kicked them, knocking them out before I saw who it was. It was Toshiko, but she was a mess. Concertedly, I watched as she panted.  
“What happened?" I said plainly as she stood wobbling in front of me.  
Her eyes wide, she spoke a few words before fainting onto me “Aliens smuggling cocaine into space.”  
I had just enough time to catch my weight and Tosh by sheer will alone. A few seconds passed before I could catch my bearings.  
My mouth gaped as I was shook by what she had just said. I guess I'm going to hold off on those plans for another day. This, I could feel, wouldn't be easy. She looked at Tosh's wrist and sighed. Maybe she would have a day out. Whatever had happened hadn't happened yet. On Toshiko's right wrist was a vortex manipulator. For all Gwen knew Tosh was going to then say and time if that one wasn't Jacks. It wasn't like he was unique in the cosmos. It was mass produced. From what she had gathered after Jack came back after a year in tandem with the radiation scare they were similar to company cars. While not totally unique, there are a limited amount.  
Though for all I know I am already involved in what happened and will have to sit it out to keep out of sight. That might possibly be some good news. I haven't signed up for overtime, but I was due for a break as well. Whatever the case I had to get Tosh to wake up somehow. For all I knew it would come today and we needed to start walking now. So, out of my pocket I grabbed what I always kept on me and what I knew she couldn't stand.  
“Peppermint, really Gwen?”  
It had worked after all, to my delight.  
“We are in an alleyway and I had it on me. Now, do we have to hide somewhere or was I involved in what got you here?”  
“I have to stay out of sight, but we need to call Jack so I only knew one thing you did out of the next three days.”  
“Well that's short, but what are you getting at?”  
“Well what we need to do exactly is this.”  
Tosh's game plan was not something I would do if I didn't have to. There were parts she had to repeat since to be perfectly honest was plain odd. I guess I could blame the rift for this.  
So, here I was now, with Tosh in a bar in the middle of the day at the start of winter. There was barely anyone inside which was definitely not a good sign. We went to the restroom and waited for a few minutes. Then I heard that noise that had to be what Tosh had told me about earlier. So I kicked down the restroom door and chucked a can of mayo at a sabretooth tiger. While it layed there unconscious, Jack stared at me, dumbfounded for the first time since I had met him.  
“Thanks Gwen but how did you time that so well? It's your day off you didn't mention going to a bar” He was scratching his head staring at the jar of mayo on the ground.  
“It's kind of you from a few days laters fault. Tosh said she came back to perverse the timeline to ensure I did what I did. You gave Tosh your vortex manipulator 3 days away. I guess i'm going to have more time off than planned. This was the only thing you saw me doing with everyone else while the alien cocaine smugglers were dealt with. I'm having trouble saying their name. It's a mouthful.”  
“Can you tell me something about them so I know what i'm dealing with?” Jack responded quickly.  
“ She did say that one of the people who took them back to their homeworld used to be mayor Blaine. Tosh said she was cute.”  
He started laughing for a second then the image of what I was describing finally got past his processing for how ridiculous it all sounded.  
“Even for torchwood this sounds..”  
“Insane I know. I'm the one who was dragged into an alley by a chip shop's trash cans by a future Tosh and had to wake her up. She seems fine, even after passing out. I don't think she got a concussion, but it's even more of a reason for me to stay out of this one. I wouldn't want to be home alone if that happened to me.“  
“You do that Gwen, you do that.”  
Tosh walked up right next to me and said, “We have five minutes until my past self walks by. We need to head out. Nice seeing you Jack.”  
We finished saying our goodbyes and Tosh headed out first, initially going left while in the distance I heard a familiar voice talking to him. While I knew I could relax, I wouldn't be able to do everything I could.  
“I haven asked yet, but are you okay with sleeping on my couch?”  
“Gwen, I’ve slept in worse places before, it's fine.”  
Tosh opened up the fridge while I was cleaning dishes. “Gwen, when's the last time you ate something that wasn't takeout? There's only milk in here and I think it's gone off.”  
“Well, I guess we'll have to go get food. Rhys usually does it, but he’s at the funeral I was talking about before all of this. You didn't go to a grocery store did you?”  
“No, so we can go anywhere.”  
I didn't feel the need to change so we went out in both of our pajamas. The sight of her in my pajamas brought a smile to my face.  
I hadn't gone here this time of night or this particular place, but Tosh seemed pretty familiar with it. There was some stuff I hadn't seen in person before, but it was pretty clean. I grabbed something called a dragon fruit and put it into the cart as well as some pasta and additional stuff to put on it. Can't forget the wine either. This kind of opportunity doesn’t happen as often for me anymore.  
I don't know how, but we ended up at a rec center painting. It was a small place nearby with a blue façade. It felt nice actually, to my surprise. It's not the best representation of a pear, but at least I tried.  
I looked at my watch and realized how much time had passed.  
“This is the last day we have to stay out of this.” I didn't know how I felt about that just yet.  
Tosh pulled down the newspaper and sat in silence for a bit. Then she simply said . “I'll miss this break, but it had to end sometime. It will be all okay.”  
“I hope so.” I thought to myself. The last few days had been calm but I don't think I can relax much longer anyways.


End file.
